Improvement in projectiles for rifled ordnance



W. w. HUBBELL. PROJEUTILE 'FOR RIFLED ORDNANOE. No. 35,825.

Patented July 8, 1862.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM WHEELER HUBBELL, OF-PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

lMPROVEMENT-IN PROJECTILES FOR RlFLED ORDNANCE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,325, dated July 8, 1:62.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM WHEELER HUBBELL, of the city of Phi adelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, scientinc engineer and counselor at law, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Projectiles for Rifled Ordnance; and I hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part hereof, in-which like letters of reference indicate like parts, and in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through the center of the projectile, and Fig. 2 is a view of the back part of the shell or projectile.

The projectile may be made hollow with an elongated or cylindrical cavity for an explosive shell, or a shrapnel-shell, or solid for a shot, and may be made of cast-iron, or of semi-steel with a steel point.

My invention at present is an improvement upon the soft-metal expanding base for an elongated projectile described in my patent dated January 24, 1860, wherein I describe the annular groove and flange with bevel facing, securing the soft metal with copper facing to close the windage and prevent leading of the gun.

The nature of my invention at present consists in extending the copper facing or facing of other similar thin metal forward of the softmetal filling and around the cylindrical hardmetal body of the projectile, so as to secure it more firmly while the soft metal expands outward with the back part of this metal facing;

also, in placing or coiling. galvanized iron Wire in the groove forward of the bevel face or the expanding portion of the soft metal, to secure it by strengthening that part of it which holds fast in the groove; also, in strengthening the expanding portion of the soft metal by casting it around an expansible tinned sheet-iron ring, which expands outward with the soft metal; also, in forming an annular groove in the copper band or facing,with the lead filling underneath and behind it'to secure the facing more firmly and prevent it from slipping backward. I

Inthe drawi'ngs,eisthe rear part, andKthereenforced part, of the shell-castin The curve of the front of the projection is formed with a radius equal to the diameter of the shell, and the front is re-enforced, .so as to place the center of gravity of the shell at or near the middle of its length, which my light weight or small body or construction of soft-metal base allows to be carried into effect, owing to amoderate quantity of re-enforce being sufficientto balance the back part without taking up too much of the powder space or hollow of the shell. The shell or projectile has a hard-metal body, j j being its cylindrical surface, It its re-enforced front, and 6 its back part, which lies next to the cartridge in the gun. Thebcdy of the projectile is cylindrical, for the purpose of promoting steadiness in the gun and flight, and about three-hundredths of an inch windage is'allowcd. The cylindrical portion of the shell is reduced in diameter, as shown at g, and for any desired distance forward ofv the soft metal toward the point, for the purpose of receiving the copper or similar metal facing, b, around this part of the hard-metal body, the

' more firmly to secure the facing b, as shown, forward ofthe soft metal, that it may be secure,

and not fly off with the soft metal nor allow the soft metal itself to fly off, and still allow the soft metal to expand and press it into the rifle-grooves, to prevent leading of the gunand prevent stripping of the lead.

it is the lead, or soft metal of lead and. antimony, cast between the back part of the tinned surface of the facing 12 and the rear part of the projectile, which rear part it surrounds. a" 6" indicate the back of this soft metal.

0 is the annular groove in the copper facing, with the soft metal '17 'i underneath and behind it.

d is the annular groove around the body of the projectile,with h, the wire, coiled, and the soft metal 'i also cast in it.

gis the annular flange,with outer bevel face behind. the groove (1, andareverse bevel face, f, is behind the flange g, over which flange g and into the reverse bevel face f the soft met-alt c is also cast, all at one casting, inside of the outer or copper'or other facing of similar tenacious metal. The face of the back part of the projectile, against which the soft metal is cast, may alsobe tinned or galvanized or washed with muriate of zinc or tin, prior to casting in the soft metal, to make it adhere. The tinned sheet-iron ring a It extends from the base of the groove f to near the back part of the soft metal, and at about every half inch it is slit 'or cut from the back edge down to near the on the bevel facing outward, and bears the copper facing into the rifle-grooves of the gun, the slit tinned ring also expands with the soft metal, the slits allowing it to yield outward, and yet it finally holds onto the soft metal to prevent it from being blown off at the muzzle of the gun. The thicknessofthe copper facing or facingof similar metal should be only about two-hundredths of an inch, and the thickness of the tinned slit ring a should be about threehun dredths of an inch, and it should flare outward as it approaches the back part of the soft metal, as shown in the -drawings. The slits and the tinned ring are shown by-dotted lines in Fig. 2, and the ringis lettered a. When the cartridge is exploderhthe power or gas presses forward on the facing i of the soft metalt' and bears it forward and outward, pressing the copper or metal facing 6 into the rifle-grooves,

giving the projectile the rifle motion, and this construction of expanding bottom or sabot does not blow offat the muzzle of the gun, does not Strip, does not lead or foul the gun, and the copper or outer metal facing is so well secured that it is not left in the gun, and the weight of the wholesabot is so light that the balance or center of gravity of the projectile is well determined, to give accuracy of flight. Z, Fig. 2, is the seam of the band. The tinned sheetiron slit ring a mayalso be struck up out of a sheet of metal, so as to have the part-of the sheet inside of the ring to correspond with and fit close to the back part, 6, of the projectile, and thus also give the ring additional strength; but it is more expensive than the ring out out of the sheet.-

\Vhat I claim 1s 1. Extending the facing of copper or similar metal forward of the soft-metal filling and around the cylindrical hard-metal body of the projectile, so as to secure the facing more 'firmly, while the soft metal shall expand outward with the back part of v this metal facing into the rifle-grooves of the gun, substantially as described.

2. In further securing the moving or expanding portion of the soft metal by the coil of wire in the front part of the metal within the groove-d, as described.

3. In strengthening that part of the soft metal which expands by casting it around the tinned sheet-iron ring with slits or otherwise, to expand with the soft metal and hold on to it at the muzzle of--the gun, substantially as described.

4; In further securing the copper or outer facing to the soft metal by forming the annular groove 0 in it, with the lead filling underneath and behind it, substantially as de.

scribed.

WM. WHEELER HUBBELL. Witnesses:

J. F. BOUGHTER,

GILBERT L. GIBERSON. 

